The Long Aloha
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, days 897b-903b: Everyone is back together again for another murder mystery dinner, at a luau gone wrong.
1. The Case of the Luau

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 42nd cycle. Now cycle 43!_

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><p><em><strong>INTRODUCING "CHEAT SHEET" - <strong>If you want to know ahead of time when a certain series will be updated next, just reassemble the link below and check out the list, save it, print it, bookmark it, whatever you need!  
>Go to: <span>gleekathon [dot] tumblr [dot] com [slash] cheatsheet<span>_

_** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 43 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about **shift days**!_

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><p><em><strong>This is a shift day [see above].<strong> There was another upload this morning: The Customer You Are Trying to Reach..., chapter 3._

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><p><strong>"The Long Aloha"<br>Kurt & New Directions**

**1. The Case of the Luau**

He'd been scouring the costume and party shops for the last few days, seeing how much it would cost for him to pull off his latest murder mystery plan. Every one of them required some decorating, and prop acquiring, but this one was going to involve a bit more of an effort. This time he was going to take theme to a whole other level. It hadn't been all that long since their last dinner, with the circus. It was probably his fastest turnover, from one game to the other, but the truth was he kind of needed this. It kept him busy.

The invitation process was always easier once someone had seen the envelopes, started sending texts down the line, and people sought him out instead of him having to track them all down. The first he did find, of all people, were two of his most recent additions to the group. Sam and Quinn had gone and started dating now, so finding one right now meant finding both of them.

"Hey," Sam saw him, then saw the envelopes. "You're doing another one?" he stood up, looking almost anxious. Quinn just smirked, looking to Kurt.

"So what are we doing this time?" she asked. He pulled out two envelopes from his stack and handed them over.

"All I will say for now: hotel, and luau," Kurt revealed. Quinn's face twitched.

"I don't have to… with the coconut bra, do I?" she asked, and he wondered if she was concerned still, post baby.

"I have a few different costume options, it's all in the envelope," he promised. He knew some of the girls would have no problem with any sort of bikini-like costume, but not all of them, so he'd leave the way open for alternatives. "So, Quinn, you are Regina, the hotel manager. We're sort of co-anchoring this one, I'll be Murray, the assistant manager," he explained. "And Sam, you're Chase, the bartender."

"Sweet, do I get to flip bottles and everything?"

"Can you do that?" Kurt asked, intrigued.

"Sort of 50/50 on success, but I can practice."

"Alright, just remember if you break it you clean it, and also the budget is small," Kurt told him before moving on. He wasn't sure if the message would start making its way around quickly, but he carried on, and when he encountered Mercedes, he caught her mid-stride, hooking his arm with hers. "Morning."

"Envelopes?" she spotted them in his other hand.

"Nothing gets by you," he smiled, presenting the stack so she could use her free hand to pick out her own. "This time you're Sophie, hotel waitress, attending the staff luau." He could sense she was about to express 'wardrobe concerns' as well, but then saw Rachel and Finn approaching. "We'll talk later," he told Mercedes before moving ahead.

"Another one already?" Rachel asked, surprised but anxious all the same.

"Yes, well, I figured why wait," Kurt explained before presenting them with their envelopes.

"So what is it this time?" Finn asked.

"Hotel staff party, luau theme," he revealed. "Finn, you're Jon the bellboy, and Rachel, you're Evelyn the receptionist," he motioned to each of them in turn and did it again as he indicated them each, saying, "You're loud, and you're a gossip," to Finn and Rachel respectively. As always Rachel had entered thespian mode the moment he gave her any sort of information on her character. "Costume information is in the envelope," he told them before moving on, briefly catching a grain of uncertainty in Rachel's eye.

His next two people came at once, though not together. Kurt had just spotted Puck walking in his direction and started to go toward him when he was called out from behind.

"Hey, Kurt, wait up," he turned to see it was Artie, so he stopped, looking back to make sure Puck wouldn't miss him.

"Heard you might be looking for me?" he told Kurt as he neared.

"Yes, both of you," Kurt confirmed before picking out the envelopes and delivering them. "Got another murder mystery, I'm assuming I can count on you?"

"Sure. What is it this time?" Artie asked.

"It's a luau, basically," Kurt told them.

"Am I going to be wearing one of those straw skirts?" Puck asked.

"If the mood strikes you, sure," Kurt shrugged. "You will be Dave, bellboy and charmer."

"I can do that," he nodded, heading off with his envelope, leaving the other two there. Kurt turned to Artie, nodding to the envelope in Artie's hands.

"You'll be Marty the waiter. Now I know what you're going to read in there, just proceed with caution," was all Kurt would say, which left Artie scrambling to rip it open and get reading. With those he had left, Kurt could guess he'd run into them or be approached by them in pairs, and he split the envelopes in consequence. When he looked up again, there was the first pair coming his way.

"We're having a luau?" Tina asked, curious.

"Well the staff of a hotel is having a luau, but yes, technically," Kurt nodded. "Right, so here you go," he handed out the envelopes to her and to Mike. "Tina, you're going to be one of three maid characters, yours is Beatrice, the new girl, kind of clumsy and inexperienced."

"Oh, I can be a grade A klutz," she assured him, smiling.

"Just don't break anything too valuable, please?" he told her before looking over to Mike. "And you, you're Miles the shuttle driver, and as it turns out, Beatrice's secret boyfriend," he tilted his head back toward Tina.

"Yes," she cheered, holding her hand out, which Mike high fived with a grin.

"But everyone knows anyway," Kurt added, though that didn't change a thing in the couple's smiles.

With his last pair, Kurt ended up having to wait outside the girls' locker room for the two of them to come out after Cheerios practice. Even then, he knew they'd already know he was coming. "Hey, Kurt," Brittany smiled when she saw him. He split the remaining envelopes and handed them over.

"Am I the killer this time? I'm feeling like a little murder right now," Santana glared back at the locker door.

"Word of advice, not the kind of thing you want to be saying in these hallways," he pointed out.

"Sorry. So what is it this time, Mercedes said luau?" By the smirk on Brittany's face, he had a feeling she was one, unlike others, who was anxious for the costumes.

"Yes," he confirmed. "You're both slated to be maids. Brittany yours is Rose, she's like the lead maid, been there the longest."

"And then she dies?" she guessed, having died in all previous games.

"It's entirely possible," was all he'd say. "And Santana yours is Tina…"

"Why isn't Tina Tina?" Brittany asked.

"I had my reasons, and you'll find out soon enough," he promised them. "Dinner's this Saturday, contact information for costumes is in your envelopes."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	2. Beach Wear

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There was another upload this morning: Along for the Crazy Ride._

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><p><strong>"The Long Aloha"<strong>

**2. Beach Wear**

Kurt had given the whole layout a lot of thought. At first he had considered the use of sand, but factoring in their need to stay in the principal's good graces if they wanted to keep using the school for their dinners, he quickly eliminated the idea. It would get everywhere, no matter how hard they'd try to clean it up, and then they'd never hear the end of it. Besides, they weren't meant to be at the beach. The setting for their game was pool side at the hotel. So he focused on décor.

They would use their biggest venue so far: the gym. Setting up a bunch of rooms was fine, but this time he decided this would be easier. Rather than having a sit down dinner, he would set things up so they could fill their plates and walk about. He had also considered bringing in some kind of inflatable pool but, again, he had opted out for the sake of keeping their access to the school. So he'd grabbed a whole stack of their blue towels, laying them out to create a stand in for a pool.

"Need some help?" He looked back to find Mike had arrived, carrying a long grass skirt.

"Yes, please. The torches," he pointed. "Where's Tina?" he asked, figuring they'd come in together.

"She's coming with Santana and Brittany, said they wanted to come together, all the maids."

A few minutes went by before they were joined by Mercedes, already in full costume, as they saw. She had opted for the sleeveless shirt and wrap skirt with floral patterns, in blue and white, with a flower in her hair and around one ankle. She wore sandals, the better to comply with the 'barefoot by the poolside' clause. She helped Kurt set up the buffet table.

Outside, Sam and Quinn met up, having come in on their own. Both of them were already dressed for the occasion, though with their costumes presently hidden by jackets. They paused, looked to one another like they were sizing each other up. "What do you have under there?" she asked him.

"I don't know, what do you have under there?" he matched her innocence.

"I don't know," she shrugged, turning toward the door, then back to him.

"I like the flowers," he looked to her ankles.

"Thanks, like the shorts," she laughed.

"Yeah, I thought about doing the grass skirt, but then I changed my mind."

"Shame…" she told him as they headed in. There they ran into Artie, who unlike Sam had gone for the grass skirt and not much else, sitting shirtless in his chair. Seeing the others' looks, he nodded.

"Weirded out my dad, too," he told them, and they laughed, moving toward the gym, where Kurt looked around, satisfied with the decorations.

"Okay, keep going, I'll go get changed," he told Mercedes.

"I should do that, too," Mike reached for his skirt. Back out front, Finn was waiting for Rachel when he heard someone calling. He turned to see Puck coming, in much the same get up as Artie, long grass skirt and shirtless. Finn for his part had chosen to go with shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, short sleeves, buttoned up… Puck stopped in front of him and observed this.

"Nice birds," he nodded to Finn's shirt. "Did she pick that out for you?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." They both turned to see Rachel coming up. She looked momentarily timid, in her short green grass skirt and red bikini top, flower at her hair and her wrist. The boys were startled as well, which may have fed into her timidity. "So… we should get inside, it's not that warm."

"Well I don't know about that," Puck tipped his head to her before they went in. They reached the gym and much like the others they had to pause and take in the work Kurt and the others had put in. It was easy to see how Kurt's dinners had become veritable events. He could have put the prom comity to shame if he'd been handed the reins on that. With what little budget and resources he'd had, he'd given them their luau.

"Where's Kurt?" Rachel asked Sam and Quinn. Sam stood there, shirtless, with shorts, while Quinn looked as both refined and laidback as they might have expected from her manager role, in a sleeveless shirt and a skirt that reached down below one knee but cut up enough to reveal the other leg, topped with a flower posed in her hair. Just then, Kurt and Mike rejoined them. She went to him, smiling. "This is amazing," she told him. "You've really outdone yourself," she went on.

"Thank you, means a lot," he told her. He had gone with shorts himself, along with a sleeveless shirt, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Where on earth did you get those arms?" They looked back at the sound of Santana's voice, and up came the three maids all in a row.

Coming in as a unit, they had gone and chosen matching clothes and accessories. Same flower at their wrist, same one in their hair as well, same short green grass skirt, and same coconut bras. From Santana and Brittany this had been expected at this point, but from Tina this was an even bigger transformation than her Gaga outfit. She walked like this was no big deal, although later she'd speak of her mishaps putting on her costume earlier, and how it had almost discouraged her from going through with it. When Mike had seen her though, the dazed look on his face had kind of made it worth it.

"Alright, everyone's here, so listen up!" Kurt stepped aside so everyone could see him, signalling for Quinn to take his side, as his co-manager, at least within the game. "All of you know what you're supposed to do, we've been here before. Dinner, as you'll also know from your information, will not be sitting down. Everything's set up, and once we're all settled into our roles, we'll be moving toward dinner. Since this room is bigger than usual, I can't go running to flash the lights to indicate the game starting, pausing, ending, so if you hear me say 'did someone order a pig?' that means stop."

"Gross…" Brittany mumbled.

"Okay, so… off we go," Kurt indicated the gym, and they walked in.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	3. Party People

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There was another upload this morning: Fight/Flight, chapter 1._

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><p><strong>ROLES:<strong>

_Quinn as Regina [manager]  
>Kurt as Murray [assistant manager]<br>Rachel as Evelyn [receptionist]  
>Tina as Beatrice [maid]<br>Santana as Tina [maid]  
>Brittany as Rose [maid]<br>Finn as Jon [bellboy]  
>Puck as Dave [bellboy]<br>Sam as Chase [bartender]  
>Mercedes as Sophie [Waitress]<br>Artie as Marty [waiter]  
>Mike as Miles [shuttle driver] <em>

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><p><strong>"The Long Aloha"<strong>

**3. Party People**

The mood at the Tower Springs Luxury Hotel had been tense for weeks, from the day Mr. Wyatt, their manager of fifteen years, was let go, and new management was brought in. Regina had not made many a friend since she'd taken over, least of all Murray, her assistant manager, who'd spent the last four years working toward taking over the position someday, only to have them bring in an outside hire. Even then, their dislike for the stranger was only one mild concern compared to what her arrival could mean. People could lose their jobs, get replaced just like Mr. Wyatt had been. She had told them already that this was in no way her intention, but they were slow to believe.

The party had been organized by the maids, to give them all something good to hang on to, in case they soon found themselves laid off and spread to the winds. Regina was invited, yes, though hardly because they'd wanted to. They'd needed her approval to reserve the terrace, the pool, and the equipment. Whether she knew why they'd invited her, they didn't care. She would find someone to talk to, and they'd forget she was even there. It wasn't like she was the only guest there who'd have a problem with someone else's presence.

Murray had never liked Sophie. He didn't know what it was, that was just how it had been. She showed the same disdain toward him. Their eyes would meet, they'd glare, and then they'd move along. Then there were the bellboys, Jon and Dave. They had once been friends, but now that had changed. Jon still showed the markings of their latest tussle. The others just compared them to two rowdy brothers. They'd make up eventually.

Chase would man the bar, even though he was off the clock. He struggled a bit at first handling fixing his drinks, his left hand constricted by a bandage. "Incident with a bottle," he told the others when they'd ask what had happened. Incident and injury both had been to the person of Sam Evans, though they would accredit it to Chase alone. There would be no bottle flipping that night.

"Hey, hey Soph," Marty came up to Sophie. The two of them were usually side by side, besides working the dinner service at the hotel, though only as friends.

"Did you start the party before the party?" she asked him, seeing his dazed look.

"It's possible," he sat up, innocent as he continued on.

"Stay away from the pool!" she called after him.

The maids walking one after the other had a way of drawing eyes. And if it wasn't enough that they were all dressed alike, there was Rose's laughter. "What's so funny?" Beatrice asked, amused, as she threw a 'discreet' smile toward Miles, across the deck.

"We bumped coconuts," she told her, indicating Tina.

"Without me?" They looked back to find Dave standing behind them, looking to Rose.

"Only a little," she promised, offering her hand. "Come on, I want to dance," the maid begged as music flooded in.

"Alright, alright," he relented, offering his girlfriend his hand. "Ladies," he saluted Beatrice and Tina.

"Think I'll go, too," Beatrice told her, eyeing Miles again. When she got no response, she looked over. "Tina? Hey, did you hear what I said?"

"What?" Tina blinked, looking over.

"I'm going to dance, are you going to be okay?"

"Yes… Yeah, I… Lou's coming," she seemed to remember suddenly, nodding.

"Okay, good," Beatrice smiled, dashing off to dance with Miles. At the bar, Chase had just finished serving two drinks to Murray, who went on his way, when Evelyn came up to him.

"You be careful with that hand…" she reached for her boyfriend's bandaged hand.

"Don't worry about it," he shrugged, letting go so he could fill her up a drink and hand it over. "Here you go," he nodded and she smiled.

"Thank you." She saw him staring past her and she didn't even need to look. "Leave it alone," she sighed.

"She shouldn't be here," he glared to Regina. He made no effort to keep his voice down, and his words reached at a number of ears around them, including the 'she' in question.

"I know that," Evelyn at least did her best to maintain her voice low. "Come on, now, it's a party," she smiled, taking his hand again, and after a moment, he frowned and looked back to her.

"Right. I'm sorry. You want to dance?" he asked, and she put her glass down.

"That's more like it."

Murray had returned to his superior, with her drink and his own. Regina did not fit in to the group, that much was always clear. Her posture gave her away, her whole attitude. She was much more about being in charge than 'letting her hair down.' Her hair, like everything about her, was perfectly in place. But these were her employees, people who saw her as the big bad wolf, and if things were going to run smoothly, then that had to change, quickly.

"Hey, hey, guys, where's the food?" Jon hollered, startling more than one of them. He kept waiting, and finally Murray remembered himself and put his drink down before raising his voice over the music.

"Did someone order a pig?" Everyone paused, uncertain how to proceed. Kurt looked to Santana, indicating for her to lower the music, as she was closest to it. "Okay, who's hungry?"

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	4. Now For Dinner

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There was another upload this morning: Sunless Days._

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><p><strong>"The Long Aloha"<strong>

**4. Now For Dinner**

With the game paused, it would be hard to tell that they were themselves again until they spoke again, moved again. Some things didn't change, like Mike and Tina sticking together, and then other things did. Kurt and Mercedes, who'd been throwing each other the stink eye since this thing had started, just broke into a fit of laughter now that they could be themselves again. Finn went on to tell them how his shout had been instructed in his envelope as a signal for the dinner break.

"Isn't there a death or two by now?" Sam asked, still kind of new to the whole murder mystery process.

"A lot of the time, yes," Kurt answered, "The dinner table tends to be the perfect place to pause and reflect on the evidence at hand. But in this case it required things to be handled differently."

"Well we do know the who," Mike looked to Brittany, who'd gone investigating the buffet table. She turned back, chewing.

"What?" she asked, finding everyone looking at her.

"You really do die every time?" Sam asked.

"So far, yeah," she nodded. "At first it was upsetting, but now I like it," she smiled.

"She's a pro," Santana piped in. "She really goes for it… Kind of freaks me out," she admitted. Brittany reacted automatically in hugging her, which brought a chorus of knocked coconuts and returned Santana's smile and Brittany's laugh. They all moved in to serve themselves at this point, though rather than breaking off into smaller groups, they just remained sort of hovering near the table.

"You missed a good one last time," Tina told Puck, who'd been in juvie when they'd had their circus game.

"We had three deaths," Rachel nodded, reminiscing.

"And we had the blood packs, that would just squirt out where we were slashed," Sam motioned.

"Those were cool," Brittany commented with a grin.

"I got to be the killer," Artie revealed. "I was kind of lethal," he squinted dramatically, getting some laughs.

"Damn," Puck looked from one to the other as they spoke, like he was genuinely sorry he had missed out on that one.

"There'll be other bloodfests," Kurt promised. "I've got plenty of ideas. I'd do them more often but it wouldn't be as special."

"Hasn't been that long since the last one," Finn pointed out. Kurt hesitated for just a split second.

"Well with Puck once again a free man, it felt appropriate," he explained.

"Thanks, man," Puck blinked, almost touched. After this they all got to eating again, the grass skired folk starting a bit of a dance as they stood side by side, entertaining the others.

"Mike, Brittany, can you come meet me at the stage when you're done eating?" Kurt looked to them when he was done with his own dinner. They both nodded over, and he went ahead, needing to check on some things. He missed both Rachel and Mercedes looking to him and then each other before they followed him, plates left behind.

"Kurt?" Rachel spoke as they reached him, split from the others' earshot. He turned.

"Is something wrong?" Mercedes asked.

"No, I don't think so, I tested the equipment myself," he looked behind the curtain.

"We don't mean with the show," Mercedes clarified, and he paused.

"Whatever's going on with you… We'd like to help," Rachel added.

"It's fine," he insisted.

"Doesn't look fine to us. We're your best friends," Mercedes' words were like a caring touch.

"It's Karofsky, isn't it?" Rachel clued in. It was. He wasn't saying it with words, but it was. They could have pressed further, but they silently decided not to – not tonight. "Are we starting again soon?"

"Yes, soon," he nodded.

"Okay," Rachel answered in a hush, turning on her heel and taking Mercedes with her. Kurt took a moment to stand there before reaching behind the curtain to look in on the hidden contraption. They had tested it, considered their options to make sure they could pull this off correctly and safely, particularly for the one who'd have to be… strung up.

"Hey, is it ready?" he turned to find Brittany had joined him, Mike trailing behind.

"Ready if you are," Kurt confirmed.

"Is it really a good idea just after dinner?" Mike had to point out.

"I'll be fine," Brittany insisted. She looked much more interested in getting ready than in the possibility of having her dinner make a return visit.

"Alright then, let's get you ready for your big reveal," he motioned for them to follow him behind the curtain. Across the room, it was hard for the rest of the group not to stare and wonder what they had going on back there. They could vaguely hear them talking, and at one point heard Brittany squeak and the boys' voices rising.

"It's okay! It's fine!" Kurt's voice emerged, knowing some people might have gotten concerned. It took a little while longer and then Kurt and Mike came from behind the curtain, alone, and rejoined them. "If everyone will get ready, we're about to continue. It is now some time later, so I'll leave it to your judgments as to the state of inebriation of your various characters at this point, and that also goes with any other aspects."

"Kurt?" Brittany's voice was heard from behind the curtain.

"Yes, sorry, hurrying," he called back, returning to the others. "Off you go, when you hear the music that means we're back in play," he explained, dashing to the sound system. The curious bunch moved into place. In the days they'd had between the invitations going out and the actual game, they had been able to figure out some sort of plan of action, for certain moments and interactions. The music resumed, and at once the characters reawakened, with a few hours of partying in their bodies, or at least some of them.

Regina remained as out of place as ever, and now she had lost her buddy, as Murray abandoned his sucking up for the night to go chat up Tina the maid in all his tipsy glory. The maid appeared equally locked in a happy drunk haze, judging by the fact that she hadn't turned him away. A few others were performing what seemed to be a dizzy attempt at a hula dance, while yet a few more others stood about the bar, having a discussion that could only be directed at their never beloved new manager. She kept her expression together, but it was clear she had noticed them.

"Hey! H-hey!" Murray stumbled up drunkenly. "Hey, we got a piñata! Bring out the piñata!"

"Yeah! Bring it out!" Tina followed in the demand. Soon others did as well, shouting "Piñata! Piñata!" over and over until they would bring it out.

"Wait… wait, I think we gotta pull this little tassel here," Murray went on stumbling and pulled the cord.

Everyone screamed.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	5. Whack the Pinata

(this morning's story was "Fight/Flight chapter 2" (sorry, battery is failing!)

"The Long Aloha: Whack the Piñata"

The trio of maids had gone and become a duo. Up before them, Rose, sweet Rose, was suspended, trussed up with straps and hanging from a rope looped at her midsection with her head and feet dangling back.

"Oh… Rose, no…" Beatrice cried out, clinging to Tina's arm. Regina stepped up.

"Quick, someone get her down," she looked around to her employees. She didn't have to ask twice. Murray and Miles took up the charge, pulling the girl down. She had been wrapped in a blanket before being tied up, protecting her skin – exposed in great parts due to her costume – from getting cut. Once she was down, they'd loosened the straps, stepping back. Regina knelt at the girl's side, checked for a pulse. It was unlikely she'd still be alive, but she had to check. As suspected… "Dead."

"No, let me see her!" Dave cut through, coming to crouch at his – now dead – girlfriend's side. "Rose?" he picked her up, cradling her head in the crook of his arm as he gave a gentle shake, trying to wake her.

"Dave, she's gone," Regina shook her head.

"Who did this to her?" he turned a gaze filled with anger toward the others. "One of you… One of you killed her."

"Alright, Dave, listen to me, we need to move her. Can't leave her out here like this."

"I've got her," he sniffled, picking her up, blanket, straps and all, and carrying her over to a side room.

When the door closed, Puck put Brittany down, and she stretched. "That was cool, did you see? How'd it look?" she asked, smiling again as she got up, examining herself for cuts or marks.

"No, yeah, you looked dead, it was freaky," he promised her.

"Okay, go, go, I have to change," she nudged him toward the door. Once he was out of there she could reach for the bag that had been stashed for her there, ready to take on her second persona.

Back around the deck, the grisly discovery had brought a jarring and unforgiving sobriety to the partying staff of the hotel. What Dave returned to was a lot of talk and finger pointing.

"We need to call the cops!" Evelyn begged, trembling.

"Yes, we will," Regina promised. "Until they get here though, no one is leaving, understood?" There were grumblings and cries, but for once everyone listened to her without questioning her authority behind her back. "Did anyone see Rose? Did anyone see something?"

"Saw her heading to the bathroom earlier."

They all turned and paused at the new arrival. The blonde standing just a few paces behind them was not dressed for the occasion, rather she still wore her uniform, a jumpsuit with a patch bearing her name – Lou. There was something hard about the girl, and many would say they couldn't remember her cracking a smile too often. She had been invited to the party, but she had declined, citing that it just wasn't 'her thing.' Still she wasn't without heart, far from.

"Lou…" Tina spoke, then blinked almost as though she had just remembered the girl was her girlfriend. "Lou, it's terrible," she shook her head. The blonde, who worked as a handywoman at the hotel, moved up to tearful maid.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It's Rose. She's dead," Tina shook her head. The handywoman was startled by the news, and she wrapped her arms protectively around her girlfriend.

"How do we know she wasn't the one who killed her?" Evelyn pointed to the new arrival. "We haven't seen you all night, it'd be just like you to sneak up on someone."

"And she'd be strong enough to get her up there, girl's got muscles!" Marty pointed a finger as straight as his intoxicated mind would allow. The accusation only heightened the suspicions toward Lou.

"Stop it!" Tina insisted. "She wouldn't."

"I was up on the seventh floor fixing the television in room 737," Lou added. "Ask the man in the room."

"Lou," Regina turned to her, back to handling the situation with the calm it required. "When did you see Rose go to the bathroom?"

"About twenty minutes ago, right before I was called up for the television," she recalled, nodding.

"Did anyone see her or talk to her around that time?" Regina asked the others.

"She wasn't feeling well," Dave recalled, still retaining the right to stare accusations toward the others. "I offered to go with her, but she said she'd be fine…" he breathed out and shook his head. "I should have gone with her anyway."

"Dave, it wasn't your fault," Jon spoke up, his arguments with his former friend put aside for the moment.

"He's right, it wasn't," Beatrice piped in, with Miles' comforting arms around her. For all their 'effort' to hide their relationship, it had remained secret that long.

"How do we know that it was any of us?" Sophie asked. "There are plenty of people in this hotel, it could be anyone."

"I don't think so," Murray shook his head. "This looked personal."

"He's right," Regina agreed.

"Alright, then who was it," Sophie shrugged.

"That's something we still need to figure out," Regina sighed. "I know a lot of you don't approve of me being here, but like it or not I'm here for something, and that's not to cause any of you trouble. Now what happened with Rose tonight, that was a tragedy, one I'm not going to stand by and let go unpunished. So we'll all have to work together to resolve the situation. Is everyone with me?"

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	6. Under the Trees

_(Posting both stories now on account of computer issues, might not get to be on in the afternoon :( so here it is!)_

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><p><em><strong>This is a shift day [see above].<strong> There was another upload this morning: Thresholds._

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><p><strong>"The Long Aloha"<strong>

**6. Under the Trees**

No one was leaving, so Regina took this as indication they were agreeing. "Very good. Who's sober enough to call the police without sounding like a prank caller?"

"I'll call them," Lou volunteered, having just arrived to the party. She moved aside, and though none of them would say it aloud, the people they were on the inside did worry in some cases that she might actually call the police to report a murder. The room was devoid of words in that moment, but the work of eyes was enough to create a whole conversation. They went left and right, person to person, carrying with them questions and accusations. Some had more reason than others to seek the guilty party, those who cared for Rose, loved her… her boyfriend, Dave, her maid friends, Beatrice and Tina… To others of course they were not beyond suspicion. It wouldn't have been the first time friendship or love turned to death, and it wouldn't be the last either.

"I'm not going to wait here until the cops get here," Dave shook his head. "If one of you killed her, I'm going to find out, and then well maybe I'll give my own justice," he clenched his fists.

"How do we know you didn't kill her?" Evelyn asked, a frightened yet defiant look on her face.

"I would never hurt her," she was testing Dave's control. "The fact that you would think that just goes to show how little you really know.

"Who would even want to hurt her?" Beatrice asked, sniffling over to Miles, with his arm around her shoulders. "Rose was a sweetheart, everyone loved her," the thoughts of her friend made her smile, but then the smile soured when she remembered the girl now laid dead in a room nearby.

"Maybe she was too sweet," Sophie suggested. "Pretty girl like her, she got attention, wanted, not wanted…" The implications quieted the group, and again developments could be seen through their eyes. Those eyes now seemed to be scanning the male faces in the room.

"Should we… examine her?" Beatrice asked, but then the very idea of it renewed her whimpering and she sought comfort against Miles' chest.

"The police will do that when they get here," Regina shook her head. "If we disturb anything, whoever killed her could go free. For Rose's sake and others, we should leave her as she is," she insisted, and silently the others agreed. "Who saw her last besides Lou?"

"I was dancing with her, and she said she wasn't feeling well, so she went off to the bathroom," Dave replied.

"I saw that, too," Beatrice offered.

"Me too," Tina added.

"Anyone else?" Regina asked.

"I… I was in the bathroom when she was there, but then I came back. Right quick, I swear," Evelyn shook her head rapidly, not wanting them to think she had anything to do with this.

"Did she say anything to you?" Regina looked to her.

"Not really, no, she was more concerned with…" she motioned that Rose had been sick. With how much they had been drinking by then, it wasn't surprising.

"Anyone else?" Regina asked again, but she got nothing.

"I should have stayed with her," Evelyn bowed her head. Jon put a hand to her shoulder, offering comfort.

"What about before the party? Did Rose give any indication that she might have been in trouble?" Everyone thought about it, but one by one they were shaking their head to the negative.

"She was happy about the party," Tina recalled with a sad smile. "All week, it was all she could talk about, this party."

"Oh… Oh…" Marty suddenly started humming, like an idea had come to him that was just tripping him out, blowing his mind.

"What is it?" Sophie asked him, and he started… laughing.

"Maybe… Maybe they didn't mean to kill her… her…" he leaned over to whisper, then snapped back into place, his finger shooting out to point out. "Maybe it was her they wanted… the bi… boss," he corrected himself, plastering two fingers to his lips as though to say 'oops.' Everyone looked to Regina. As high as he was, maybe he had a point. The two blondes could have been mistaken. "Wrong blonde…" Marty intoned in a grave voice, then burst out laughing.

"What about you, Regina? Are you in trouble?" Chase threw her a glare.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" When she'd begun to work there, Regina did have a brief fling with the bartender, but it had ended badly, and now he kind of hated her guts, more so than the others. It was with that fact in mind that she looked to the man.

"Believe me, if I wanted you dead, you would be," his eyes dripped of his anger.

"Now might not be the time to throw grudges around," Murray pointed out.

"The police will be here soon," Lou informed them, returning. "We're supposed to just stay here until they do." Miles took a few steps forward, Beatrice tagging along.

"What about them?" he pointed up. The area was surrounded by the rooms' balconies, on all four sides, for many floors above. Everyone looked up.

"If they had seen anything, we would know, unless they're heartless enough to keep silent," Dave shook his head.

"I don't know that heartless is the right word," Regina looked to him.

"Well what would you call it?" he asked.

"Cautious? In case someone comes after them."

"Well we're all right here, aren't we?" Dave threw his arms out, looking up. "If you know who killed her, then come down here! Right now!" he bellowed. "Right now!" They were shocked to see tears spring from his eyes.

"Dave, please," Sophie shook her head.

"If this had been a mistake, they wouldn't have hung her out there for us to find," Tina pointed out, and they knew she had a point. "This was personal. Sweetheart or not, someone wanted Rose dead."

TO BE CONCLUDED (TOMORROW)


	7. Aloha Aloha

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There was another upload this morning: Court Side._

* * *

><p><strong>"The Long Aloha"<strong>

**7. Aloha, Aloha**

They knew the police was on its way, but they couldn't just stand around and do nothing, so they started to wonder, about Rose, about what could have happened to her. There was still the very strong possibility that a killer stood among them, and that left them all on high alert.

"What about before tonight?" Regina asked the others.

"She never talked to me," Jon shrugged.

"Well why would she, you hate Dave and she loved him," Beatrice glared at the guy.

"I don't hate him," Jon cut in, frowning at Beatrice before looking back to Dave. The former friends looked to one another, and despite the state of their relationship at the moment, Dave knew Jon's words to be true.

"Look, this isn't about that right now," Murray tried to bring things back in line, and the others faced forward again. "Whatever you've got, it could help."

"If anything was wrong, she wouldn't have said," Tina looked to Beatrice, who agreed with a silent nod. "She was always open, but… not with anything like this. The one time we ever…" She paused, looking to Beatrice again, and the click of memory happened for her as well. They were silently debating it now – speak or hold your tongue.

"What is it?" Regina asked.

"We promised her never to tell," Beatrice shook her head to Tina.

"She's dead, Bea," Tina's voice trembled, and Beatrice's face gave tremors, but she nodded. "Last summer, there was a guy who tried to force himself on her. She said she couldn't remember who he was, but we think she did know, or if she didn't, then she remembered after a while." The revelation hit the group hard. It also concentrated their suspicions. Dave took the news with renewed sadness for his Rose, but also renewed anger for whoever had gone and dared lay a finger on her.

"An employee?" Regina asked, serious. The maids nodded.

"Why didn't she report him?" Evelyn shook her head, stricken.

"She said she didn't remember," Beatrice shook her head. "I think she was scared he'd come back and actually pull it off this time."

"What do you know about what happened, anything she might have told you or…" Regina asked.

"Was that the night of the Oscar party?" Sophie asked, remembering something. The maids nodded. "I remember, she was acting strange, just… I think she'd been drugged."

"But she was always careful about those things, I mean really careful," Tina insisted.

"Maybe not if she trusted the guy," Miles frowned with sadness. Rose had been his friend, too.

It took a moment, but then there was an intake of breath, and Evelyn backed up to stand safer, with others around her, as her eyes raised to the bartender. "She liked you. B-before she was with Dave, I'd see her looking at you," she spoke toward Chase, even if she was afraid to be without protection.

"So?" he shrugged, not liking the accusation. But the words had started a chain, of almost each and every one of them recalling either seeing or experiencing an amount of roughness from the most ardent contester of their new management. When that remembrance hit Dave, he looked like a man with a mission, and that mission was to rain hurt on the guy. If Jon and Miles hadn't held him back, he would have gotten there, and the only thing that hit the guy were Dave's words. He was surrounded – he wasn't going to get away.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Regina stepped forward, unafraid. "Did she confront you? Did she threaten to tell on you, was that it?" her tone was hard, showing a protectiveness of her dead employee that perhaps in the long run would help everyone warm to the change in management at their hotel. Chase wasn't denying anymore, just stood there.

"Why'd you hang her up like that?" Lou had to ask, and if events hadn't smacked them all hard enough, his response, and the smile that came with it, only hardened the blow.

"To humiliate her," he shrugged.

The game was over, no need to declare it as such. They stood in silence for a beat, letting it all settle before they could be themselves again.

"I wish we had a real pool…" Brittany was the first to speak, breaking the tension that had come with the end of the game.

"I did almost bring one," Kurt revealed. "Would have been too risky."

"Why didn't we just use the actual pool?" Rachel pointed out, and Kurt sort of wished she'd mentioned this sooner.

"Are you okay?" Santana asked Brittany, looking to her as she remembered the straps.

"Yeah, I got kind of pinched but just one place," she promised.

"Where?" Mike asked.

"I'd rather not say," Brittany turned back to Santana.

"Well why don't we go to the pool?" Puck suddenly suggested, and now the quiet was one of mischief – maybe…

"You guys go ahead, I should clean up," Kurt told them. They were quick to move on out, though two remained behind… Kurt kind of expected as much. Rachel and Mercedes helped him clean up the gym, taking the decorations down, packing what could be salvaged and throwing out the rest. Everything that belonged to the school was stacked in the corner, as arranged, while Kurt's things were loaded in the boxes he'd taken in with him before being taken to his car. When the trunk door was shut, he looked back toward the two girls.

"Come to the pool with us?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not really in a swimming mood," he shrugged.

"Are you in a 'tossing people in the pool' mood?" Mercedes asked innocently.

"Which people?" Kurt asked.

"We can leave that up to you," Rachel told him, holding her arm out. After a moment, he sighed.

"Alright, alright. Let's go." He smiled to each of his two best friends as they re-entered McKinley to finish out the night with their fellow murder mystery diners.

THE END


End file.
